TUBAN

A Japanese tourist was arrested at Ngurah Rai International Airport last week when he was caught with hashish in his luggage, officials revealed on Monday.

Yao Noriyosho was arrested last Tuesday evening after arriving from Japan via Singapore on a Singapore Airlines flight.

“Our officers were suspicious, and they asked the perpetrator to open his suitcase,” said customs chief I Made Wijaya, explaining that officers had initially become suspicious after spotting suspect items during a routine x-ray of the case.

Three grams of hashish were found wrapped in plastic and hidden inside a bundle of clothes.  Officers also discovered another 4-gram wrap on the chair where Noriyosho had been sitting while the search was carried out.

“Apparently he tried to get rid of the other evidence in the chair in the customs room.  We secured a further 4 grams of fried marijuana there,” Wijaya said.

Noriyosho faces a minimum jail term of five years and a maximum sentence of death, and fine of between Rp1 billion and Rp10 billion (US$117,233-$1.172 million) if found guilty under narcotics laws.